Apple from The Tree
by RubirosaRocks
Summary: Set after 'Human flesh search engine'. A Drama about the search for Kevin Bernard's and estranged son. Bernard hands in his badge after it becomes too difficult to work the next case with Lupo. Partnerships and relationships begin to tear to pieces. Will age-old wounds ever be healed?
1. Far from the Tree

**Title:** Apple From The Tree

**Characters:** Bernard, Lupo, Connie, Mike, Jack, Anita

**Summary:** Set after 'Human flesh search engine'.

A Drama about the search for Kevin Bernard's and estranged son. Bernard hands in his badge after it becomes too difficult to work the next case with Lupo. Partnerships and relationships begin to tear to pieces. Will age-old wounds ever be healed?

A/N: Greetings! This time I'm posting a story about paternity and family because it was Father's day here last weekend. (Hence why it's going to be in September in the story) Not many people write about Bernard so I thought I might give it a crack! I hope you enjoy the story :)

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**Chapter 1**

**Far From The Tree**

**Prologue:**

It certainly wasn't an easygoing week at the office for Detective Kevin Bernard. He'd have his good days and then he'd have his bad days, but nothing could have prepared him for this week's case. His personal life had been put on the stand and was forced into the public's eye. He also unintentionally became a viral hit on the Internet overnight. The recent case caused his sense of security and privacy to be greatly compromised, all done by the slimy hands of an over-eager gossip-munching blog creator. There was one thing from B's past that he didn't want to have to experience again, that became the target of the blogger. His past was brought up in court and used against him, jeopardising his testimonies credibility when asked about his honesty. Bernard was an honest person, he worked in the IAB after all, but one lie, 12 years ago, came back to bite him.

Rosemary Franklin attended Compton's 1998 Police Academy Graduation party in Los Angeles when her Fiancé became a new recruit; she had no significant tie to the young Bernard, who also just graduated and attended the party. Many drinks later and after certain things led to other things, Rosemary found herself pregnant 3 weeks later. Bernard and Rosemary kept their secret from the boy and the Fiancé for 12 years.

A few months straight after the birth, Kevin had had trouble with child support payments as there were paternity issues surrounding whether or not if he was the father or if Rosemary's fiancé was. They seemed to work out how to function normally even with secrets as big as theirs and after all these years peace was held from both parties. It worked well when no one dared to interrupt what they had... until the 'Human Search Engine' case.

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_August 2010_

_Present Day_

_Meade's bar, New York_

_5.00pm_

The case was finally over, no more stands, no more humiliation, no more blogs and hopefully no more secrets leaking. Kevin Bernard sat quietly by himself at the bar, sipping his beer. His partner was silently sitting beside him. They both nearly lost the case were feeling glad it was over but a bit down because they felt as though they had let their Lt. down as well as the DA's. Lupo attempted to comfort B with a joke he had heard recently.

"Have you heard about the old ladies that went driving?" Lupo began.

"No I haven't", said Bernard curiously

"Ok. So two friends were going along the road when the passenger noticed that the driver was going through a red light. She thought to herself, "Perhaps I shouldn't say anything, she probably already noticed what she did and doesn't need someone to point it out to her."

They came up to another set of lights, only to go through them when they were red again. The passenger started to get very worried, and thought it was time to mention something. She then realised that her friend, the driver, had terrible eyesight. They drove through one more set of lights and the passenger chose to speak up, "Do you know that you've gone through 3 red lights already? Are you alright to drive?"

The driver then asked, "Oh, I'm driving, am I?"

Bernard laughed and shook his head; it was the type of joke he expected to hear from Lupo. It worked though; their mood was lighter.

"Nice Dad Joke, Lupes" He said

"Haha thanks, yes it was definitely a Dad joke" Lupo replied.

There was a brief silence before he continued, "Speaking of Dad..."

"Lupo, I know where you're going with this, and don't go there" Bernard stopped him.

"But, fathers day is coming up next month, and don'tcha think that now is the perfect chance to-"

"Lupo, don't ya think I've had enough today, all this talk about...you know."

"Being a father"

"No"

"Being a father! Because that's what you are. Whether you're in Compton or New York, today or tomorrow... You're a father " Lupo corrected him

"I don't need you to lecture me. It was a long time ago, I haven't forgotten what's happened."

"You've forgotten what you are though," Lupo said

"Excuse me?" Bernard raising his voice. The bartender looked over at them, ready to walk over if it was necessary.

Bernard and Lupo noticed, and lowered their voices slightly but continued to quarrel.

"You can't just suddenly go up to someone and tell them, "You've been lied to your whole life, that man who says he's your dad, isn't." And besides, I'm not 'Daddy material', and I don't even know what it takes to look after a 12 year old."

"But B, you wouldn't expect to be one overnight, it'll take time and patience from both of you. You have nothing to worry about, you'll do a great job." Lupo tried to reason with him

"How do you know if I'll be able to raise a kid? This is nothing like you and Jenny-"

"Hey Watch it!" Lupo yelled and pointed at him.

"Hey! Hey! Enough!" A familiar voice sounded as she intercepted from behind. It was Connie. They both went silent as she gave Bernard a piece of paper.

"What is it?" Bernard asked as Lupo watched from a distance.

"It's a written apology from Mike, you know, about today." She said.

"Really?" Lupo asked.

"Well it was a mountain climb and a half to get it." She light heartedly said, "But he means every word though" she added.

"Well there you go" Bernard happily sighed, "I didn't expect that"

"Have a seat Connie," Lupo offered her as he shifted his empty bottle out of the way. "What would you like to drink?" he asked her.

"Oh, the regular, please" she smiled as she sat on the stool. Lupo gestured to the Bartender.

"Anything for you, B?" Lupo then asked.

"Nah, I'm good thanks, I think I'll call it a night"

"Ok, suit yourself. Don't leave because of me though." Lupo guiltily said.

"No Lupes, I should listen to what you have to say. But it's been a long day and I need to do a lot thinking, that's all."

He hopped up and put money on the counter.

"Please thank Mike for me, Connie"

"Sure. will do," she said while sipping her drink.

"Goodnight guys, see you monday" Bernard said as he headed out. Lupo sat in his spot and ordered another drink for himself.

"Bye Bernard" Connie and Lupo said.


	2. Branching out

**A/N: **Thanks so much for all of the wonderful reviews for chapter 1. I hope you enjoy this story even if you're not a Bernard fan. Happy New Year and I hope you all have a wonderful 2013!

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**Chapter 2**

**Branching out**

_2 weeks later_

Bernard and Lupo were at knee height in paperwork and their leads seemed to follow by a lot of dead and even more leads to chase up. The Detectives had the feeling that they would be running around in circles for a while.

Bernard stayed at the 2-7 while Lupo visited the DA's office for assistance with a warrant. He wandered down the corridor and saw that Connie was at her desk, he was about to knock at the window but stopped when he realised she was crying. She swiveled around in her chair to reach for a tissue behind her and caught Lupo standing there.

"Oh." She said, then tried to smile and cover up the fact she was hurting, "I... um."

"I'm sorry, is this a bad time, Connie?"

"No. No. It's just... It's nothing"

"I hope you're alright" He gently said as he walked closer.

"I..am.. I will be. What can I help you with Lupes?" she desperately tried to change the subject. She failed to find a tissue box so she sat back down in her chair again.

Lupo pulled out a tissue and gave it to her.

"It's really not important," he began as he pulled the chair from beside her desk and placed it in front of her and sat down. "As long as you're ok, Connie. You know we're here for you if you ever need us." He reminded her.

"Yeah," She said with a friendly smile, "Thanks."

"I was only going to get your opinion on a warrant I was going to request for our current case."

"Ok. How is the case going, by the way?"

"We're a bit lost at the moment, to be honest. And well the only way we can continue on this lead we have is through, this warrant" He reached in his pocket for the draft.

"Right," she seemed intrigued.

"But the problem is, it's something that might push some ethical boundaries." He added

"Uh. I see," she agreed as she kept reading. Lupo noticed that her mascara had smudged under her puffy eyes that she just wiped with the tissue.

"Oh. You've got a little-"

"Hmm?" she took her eyes off the draft. She wiped her eye again after seeing Lupo point to his eye. But she missed it. She looked into the screen of her computer that was asleep and found where the smudge was. "Oh there it is" she lightly laughed. "Thanks. And your warrant seems to be necessary." She concluded.

"Cool. Thanks for checking it over."

"That's my pleasure. So do you really think the Dad could have killed all of those people and the wife didn't even know about it?" she questioned.

"Yeah, it looks that way. And I'm sure she wouldn't have put her son in danger either on purpose. So the paternity test results will tell us if the disease has passed on to the son."

"Hopefully it hasn't" she sighed.

"Fingers crossed" he added

The current case they were working on involved a victim that had rare genetic disorder passed down through the paternal genes only. The only problem was that the father of the victim doesn't seem to have the disorder.

"So. How is Bernard going, you know, with everything?" she carefully asked.

"Well, I think he's going alright. Considering. I mean it's certainly not the best case that could be handed to us, but we're trying to be objective. I definitely think it was a smart move not to keep pestering him about his son."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm sure, if he wants to talk about it, he'll talk about it."

"Yep" he said. He thought about what would happen if he asked her why she was crying.

"What a shame. I really hope he was up for seeing his son. He could go with me to LA next week" she mentioned.

"You're heading to LA?"

"Yeah, next Thursday. I wish it was on better terms of course but, still, it will be nice to go"

"You're not leaving to become the _best_ Deputy District Attorney of Los Angeles County, are you?" He joked.

"Haha, no of course not."

"Oh.. I'm sorry... is it _'DA Rubirosa'_, now?" He continued

They both laughed.

"No, actually, it's for family" she corrected him changing the tone to a serious one.

"Oh." He said settling down.

"My Step-dad passed away. I just found out today. That's why you saw me crying before" she said sadly.

"Connie. I'm really sorry to hear that."

"Thank you. It's ok though. We at least knew it was coming. He was sick for while."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"What about your Mum, is she going ok?" He asked

"Yes, I'm looking forward to visiting her. I sure know she could use the company now. My sister moved out a while ago and I don't want her to be too alone. You know?

"Yeah. You're doing the right thing. She's lucky to have you."

_Compton_

_Los Angeles_

"Boys! Dinner! " A woman called from the house to the father and son playing basketball out in the yard.

"Just a sec mum! I'm winning," the boy replied.

"Winning can wait, I'm hungry!" the dad said as he raced his son inside. "Beat you there!"

"Oh no you won't" The boy laughed as he elbowed him out of the way.

"Settle down, settle down. There's no racing when it comes to food. Take you're time would you!" the mum smiled as she grabbed the plates ready to serve them.

"Who's saying grace tonight?"

"It's my turn to night," the dad said.

"Thank you Lord for the meal which we are about to receive," he began, "thank you for the beautiful chef Bethany that made it," he peaked one eye open at his wife and she was smirking back at him. "Thank you for my son, the champ with the killer right hook who's going to make it big in the NBA," he continued, the son let out a light giggle. "And thank you for our health, our house and everything you have blessed us with. And thank you for keeping me safe every day on the job. Amen"

"Amen," The others replied.

The three did well to leave no scraps at the end and not long after, Ray J was ready to build his winning streak against his father.

"Raymond?" Bethany asked.

"Yeah?" her husband replied.

"Be careful, we don't want you getting any more injuries" she said.

"Yes, dear. I know. I'll be careful," He smiled and kissed her before he ran out the door again.

They were both too focused on the game of basketball to notice that someone was sitting in a parked car down the street spying on them.


End file.
